Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice from anyone who has filed for a consumer proposal before, or just generally some financial advice regarding my situation.

To start off, I’m a 26y/o F currently completing my masters at UofT. I grew up with financial troubles and saw my family struggling up and down throughout the years. The past few years I completely screwed myself over by taking out pay day loans (bad! i know) and maxxing out credit cards (allowing my Amex to go to collections). I have a well paying job through the university, however the work is abundant in the school year (sept-april) and not really in the summer months. Despite making a good income starting next month, it would still be extremely difficult to catch up on these loans (pay day loans equaling roughly $10k, credit cards roughly $3k). I’m looking to do a consumer proposal given that my credit is already pretty bad and it would be helpful to start fresh, knowing I can pay that smaller amount much quicker and get myself out of this situation I’ve put myself into. I just feel very naive given my little background knowledge of finances and i’m worried i’ll end up making a bad decision.

Some questions I have are:

Are there any specific company you all might recommend I talk to for more advice and to carry out the consumer proposal (if i choose to go that route)?

Has anyone been able to get approved for a line of credit (with a guarantor) while in a consumer proposal? I am currently applying to law school and thinking of the finances surrounding that.

Any info on where to start would be super helpful! TIA!!

I promised myself if I get the EI approval, I will share my experience to the community.

My Background:

1. Two laid offs without cause
2. Closed permit
3. Worked over a year for both companies
4. Paid EI premium during both employment.
5. On EI record, I was qualified the maximum amount and maximum weeks, in BC.

First laid off | Company A, laid off Oct 15th, 2023 | Work permit expired on Dec. 25th, 2023

• Submitted EI (10/15)
• Same day (10/15) I was requested for Questionnaire to clarify the Dismissal.
  • Submitted right away.
• Two days later (10/17), got a call with an officer to explain my situation [READ Carefully, this is where I did wrong]

During the conversation, I mentioned that I was preparing for my PMP exam. The officer then asked whether this would be considered a training activity. I explained that I was studying for the PMP because it would help improve my chances of finding a job.

The officer then asked whether this meant I was not currently looking for work. I clarified that I am looking for work, but because I currently have a closed work permit, I cannot simply work for any employer.

Because of this limitation, I planned to use this time to prepare for and pass my PMP exam. He then asked when my studying or exam preparation would be completed.

I initially said probably around December. When he asked me to be more specific, I said it would likely be sometime after Christmas.

• Two weeks later (11/01), I got another questionnaire about 'Training Activities'
  • resolved the same day.
• Three days later (11/04) Claim Finalized + Decision Made Benefits not Payable

FYI: Before my permit expired, I did submit my permit extension, so after my permit expired, I can still qualify to receive EI, until the work permit decision was made (maintain status). But in December, I called and spoke with the EI lawyer, they told me I did not have a chance, since it was a Closed Permit.

--- heartbroken, no income and not eligible for EI, then what's the point of paying EI. -----

6 months later, I got a new job.

Second laid off | Company B, laid off July 31st, 2026 | Work permit expired in 2029

how I felt:

• at this point, I freaked out, because last time, I could not have EI due to my close permit (according to the EI experience and the lawyer)
• But Listen, a big reason I still had a little hope throughout this process was this Reddit community. I spent a lot of time researching, reading through old posts, and DMed a few people here who had been in the same situation as me laid off while holding a closed/employer-specific work permit, and still got approved for EI.

what I did:

• Submitted EI (08/02) instead of the 31st, because I was on a trip to celebrate my last day.
  • No Questionnaire Because this time my ROE shows 'Shortage of Work' Silence until 08/24 (almost 23 days)
• 08/24, I got a call with an officer to explain my situation [READ Carefully, this is where I did right]

I explained that this was exactly why I had been actively looking for a new job. When speaking with potential employers, I made it clear that although I cannot simply start working for a new employer under my current permit, I am available to move forward quickly if they are willing to support the required process for a new employer-specific work permit, including an LMIA where applicable.

The officer then told me that she wanted to make sure that people holding employer-specific work permits were still actively looking for work while receiving EI. I confirmed that I was, and explained that I had already informed hiring teams about my work authorization situation and the steps that would be required before I could legally start working for them.

Before ending the call, I asked how soon I could expect a decision. She said they aim to process EI claims within 28 days. She would send my file to another officer to confirm my eligibility and payable weeks, and she also noted on my record that I was actively looking for employment.

• 08/30, got EI approved
• 09/01, EI payment received (paid the first three weeks of August)

That is my lesson learned (from first laid off), to my successful EI submission. I wished anyone in the dark, can feel confident to get the EI even under close permit.

Good luck ☘️

I need at least $500-$1k today. Those online websites (earnclicker) haven't met requirements yet and I can't finish them. Taskrabbit has nothing available in my area. How can I make funds?

Hello, I am currently paying $1850 rent + $150 on utilities on a 2 bedroom (I make $50000 a year, just my salary) but I only qualify for $200k loan with a monthly repayment of roughly $1200.

Why is it that I can afford to pay more for rent but not for a loan on a mortgaged house that I am already paying downpayment on, in a market where the price of the house is not going to go down and the mortgage delinquency rate is below 0.2%.
Should I by some kind of shock event default on the house, the bank wouldn't even lose any money.

If I haven't missed a single payment in the past 5 years when I've been paying $1500+ in rent I should at least qualify for a $300k loan.

If you say I have other costs: I am driving a car that I bought for $150 that works perfectly fine after putting $450 of work in. Insurance is $85 a month, my monthly food costs are $400 for 3 family members, an additional $200 for phones and gas. $150 a month for additional costs here and there.

I still manage to save $300+ a month. And that is on the high rent that I'm paying.

I do have my parents living with me, they get like $1500 a month in pension as well that they can contribute if necessary, but I can't add any of that in the calculations. (They do contribute, like for food and I can save $1000 a month, but if we didn't add them in the equation, it would be $300 savings a month).

But I wanted to buy a $400k house, it has a basement that I could rent out for $1000-1500 a month, with my parents help I could put down $100k. A $300k loan would mean $1950 a month payments (with a rented out basement that would be only $500-1000 that I would have to pay).

Something I could easily do, because rent just keeps going up and the $1950 a month repayments would stay steady, in 5 years I'll even be saving even more money because the rent by then will probably be at like $2200.

I know that there would be extra costs. But the banks don't take into accounts that I will rent out the basement, they assume no income there, they also don't take into account that my parents can help out (they are retired so no income, just pension). All I qualify for is $200k. With that I can only qualify for a house in a bad neighborhood with no extra rental income.

How am I supposed to get out of renting a house and make some income for myself if even banks won't help out?

Hello I’m in Ontario near Stoney Creek and I’m wondering if there is any free laundry programs or cheap laundromats? My dryer broke and I don’t have access to the washing machine at the moment.

I’m a single woman living on my own in B.C. - I have a $200 budget or $50 a week for strictly groceries.

Stores I have:

Costco
Save-on-Foods
Superstore
Buy-Low-Foods
Dollarama/Dollar Tree
Flashfood App.

Appliances I have:

Air Fryer
Crockpot

I have a well stocked spice cabinet and a basic pantry cupboard with flour, salt, baking powder ect.

I’ve never only had $200 a month for food before - and I can’t afford to get this wrong because I don’t have extra in the month or savings or anything.

Is $200 for just me doable? I’m willing to go vegetarian if that means staying in budget. Any tips or tricks, meal ideas, anything you want to share - I would gladly take it!

looking for clients who have never had cleaning done and have heavy visible build up as shown in the picture

please reach out if interested

I’m talking the basics - rent/food/gas/student loan - whatever needs to be paid to keep a roof over your head, keep you fed, keep you able to get to work ect.

I have about $500 for everything non-essential and it scares me. Also have no savings.

I need 1 volunteer who can be my client to get a free dental cleaning at a school clinic as part of my requirements and earn $200 at the end of your last visit if treatment is completed!

❗️Must be age 55+
❗️Must have buildup (tarter/calculus) on your teeth to qualify! Even sending me a picture of your mouth can help determine if you're the perfect fit.

📍Mississauga
Conditions: Each appointment is 4 hours and must be able to come for multiple visits.

Hey everyone. I’m about 2 years into my proposal. I have 2 capital one cards I keep at $0 each month. My credit has gone up since having my first card. I just wanted to see if there’s anything else I can do to help my credit climb? Or just keep my cards paid off?
Also once mine is paid off and shows satisfied. Will my credit boost at all? Or only when it’s fully fallen off my report?

kind of a long rambling vent post sorry. any advice would be appreciated.

i’m living in a domestic violence shelter in a smallish city in northern ontario, and i’m supposed to be moving into my new place on the 1st. i had a cleaning job a week ago, (which also took me a lot of insane applying for around 4 months to get) but i was fired because my boss believed i had been stealing, which i hadn’t. i worked that job for a month.

i’m 17 rn and my birthday is mid-sept. i have enough savings to pay for one month of living on my own (although barely) and as soon as i turn 18 ontario works can help me (it’ll be very tight though, it can cover all my bills and rent and a bit of my food). i graduated hs and was supposed to go to uni this year but things escalated with my parents and i had to flee. now i’m taking a gap year to sort things out, and i don’t know what to do.

no one is hiring. i can’t even get hired at walmart or dollarama or whatever other chain people say are always hiring. i’ve gone in person, online, followed up, customized each resume, whatever the general advice is. i can’t get a job. my resume isn’t terrible, i have some customer service and cleaning experience on there. and i’ve gotten some interviews so i know it’s working. i just can’t actually get a job. the only limitations i have is that i don’t have a car or drivers license and that i can’t do extremely physical work as i’m female with a small stature. i have completely full availability, okay with people, and am a very fast learner and have good stamina, whatever most part time jobs require to succeed.

i’m literally so stressed and suicidal. everyone says to live with your parents in this economy - i can’t do that. there is no one helping me. my friends aren’t in a position where they can offer me meaningful help and to be honest i’m too prideful to even consider it. unemployment honestly just makes my existing mental issues from the abuse i’ve went through worse. every day is just applying to jobs over and over again and not even being able to distract myself with anything else because my brain can’t stop thinking about what happens if i can’t get a job within the next couple months. realistically i could probably survive and not be on the streets, but it would be such a miserable existence. i feel like such a failure. i don’t know what to do. i just want someplace that will hire me for 15-20 hours a week and that’s it. i honestly think if it gets to a point where applying any more feels completely pointless i might just give into my brain telling me it’s over because it seems so hopeless.

17K Credit card debt. Two years of car payments left. Been living with an overdraft balance now for well over a year. Paychecks come in, and bills and stuff come out and it's right back to it. Student loan also paid off in two years luckily..

Anyone else going through this? I guess maybe I need some reassurance that I am not the only one. For those were and got out...what did you do?

I received BC disability and also work part-time. I have just now gotten to the threshold of the $16,200 per year that I’m allowed to earn. This is the first year that I have worked since I have been on BC disability so I assume I am not going to get it for the rest of the year which I understand. Does it start over in January or is it December since December’s check is for January?

Hey yall,

I'm a seaplane pilot in Ontario, but as is the nature of my work, I'm usually only employed from May - November. This wasn't an issue in the past because I was going to university, but now that I've graduated I don't really have a plan for this winter.

I was speaking to some friends and they said most career bush pilots here just live off EI in the winter and travel/work on hobbies, then fly in the summers. How exactly does this work, how much would one get, does this do anything to affect your credit score etc? If in the future I decided to finance a car, wouldn't the fact that I'm "planning" to be unemployed be a huge disqualifier for financing?

I'm very fortunate to be able to live with my parent during the winter, so EI for me would really just need to cover food, car insurance and gas, and ideally my monthly payment for my OSAP loan (can I use EI to pay for it?)

Thanks!!

i’m currently working a job that has led me to be so mentally defeated. my boss degrades me, cusses at me, gets upset over the slightest things. he wants me to work outside my hours. he’s even made me do things for his kid’s homework before. i’ve been applying for jobs for months and i haven’t landed anything yet.

i honestly mentally can’t take it. i’ve been seeing a psychotherapist for a while now and she’s strongly encouraged me to put my mental health first and get out of the job.

i unfortunately don’t have the most saved up. i’m scared if i quit i wont be able to get ei. a lot of people tell me to just be strong and hang out, but i’m literally at my breaking point.

i’m a really sensitive person hence why this has gotten to me so bad, but he makes everyone in our team cry. he’s gotten so many HR complaints, but somehow still employed.

a lot of what he says is verbal so it’s hard to get evidence against him. i know i would have to prove to the government that environment was bad to get ei. i just don’t know if i have enough evidence.

would love any advice!

Hi everyone, I am in Ontario and I used Walmart Rewards Mastercard to pay for my tuition. I was on time with the payments up until December 2025. After that I lost my source of income and I am behind the payments now. I was working on and off part time job just to make the ends meet. Thankfully I managed to get a full time job with a school which I will be starting in September.

The scary thing is I have started to receive the collection calls now and they are so overwhelming. I would really appreciate any genuine help/advice about what are my best options now. The legal trouble scares the shit out of me and I want to repay all the money but right now I just need a bit of room to breathe and I am willing to start making the payments from September.

I am looking for a genuine help/advice in this matter. I would really appreciate that.

Just making this as i have no one close to me and need to get this off my chest.

I make good money but have made so many bad choices that led me to poverty. This example will be specifically on my car.

I used to drive a BMW, very clean, brand new and everything but i made some stupid mistakes, that caused me to have major driving infractions. My license was suspended and i couldn’t drive for a year, I owed about $19k on the car and had to live beyond poor for 6-7 months + my savings to pay it off as i was severely underwater on it and couldn’t drive it. Essentially was paying $700/months for a car i couldn’t use so i had to end it.

The car is paid off now, but i still have a lingering problem with my insurance. Because of the infractions my insurance premiums have ballooned. After selling my BMW, i bought a used 2015 jetta with 180k km on it for $6k. And even with this much of a downgrade my insurance cost is still $855/month. This will be my status quo for the next 2 years until things get wiped from my record.

I feel like a failure, im very irritable and depressed not because of the jetta but because of what the jetta signifies to me. No matter what i do i cant seem to get ahead. I make okay money but still live paycheck to paycheck. My mental health is severely declining. I hope God helps me this coming years

Hi everyone,

I just finished upgrading my schooling from practical nursing to registered nursing. I’m finding there aren’t as many postings for RNs in Toronto right now and I’m hoping someone has some leads to help me get into the workforce when I can. I’m currently awaiting for the CNO to confirm my application which should take another couple of weeks max. I’m looking for hospital work if possible, any department works. Although any nursing job would be great right now in general, I’m not picky. I have experience as an agency nurse from practical nursing when I worked at three hospitals and rotated between different units. I also have previous paramedic training and 4 languages under my belt.

Thank you so much!

Im in BC, vancouver. Im between jobs atm but have long standing mental health issues ive neglected all my life. I live in the DTES in a filthy apartment shoebox, my neighbor smokes meth and i can smell it in the hallway and sometimes in my room. and i know my life is shitty because of my own mistakes and depression but i wanna try and fix that. i cant afford therapy and honestly im not interested in therapy as much as i am needing a psychiatrist. i had a traumatic event 20+ years ago when i was 17 and never got past it and fixate on it and relive it daily. im non-indigenous male. i dont have any drug addictions atm myself and havent used in years. No family or family doctor. pls no judgement or encouragement, only am looking for a pathway towards mental health help.

I didn't want to face I had a problem even though I fell behind on rent payments by 3 months. Had an LTB hearing, made a payment plan and been keeping up until now. If I don't make my payment on the 30th, I'll get a 3 week notice. My car lease is behind by 3 months too and they are threatening legal action if I don't pay by Friday. Any advice would be much appreciated on what options are out there in my situation. I am actively applying for work, just had an interview end of last week, and on average make about 80k when employed - that's about what my experience and expertise in my field is worth. My anxiety is pretty paralyzing at this point. What should I do next to get back on track and get my life back together financially ? Yes, I am seeking help.

Okay I know I'm not great for doing this but I had a bill go into collections maybe 10 months ago, I've been ghosting their calls and emails ever since except for today, when I received another one and finally decided to try and deal with it, I sent back an email and did not receive a response, however I did log into that utility bill account and it said the amount that I still owe, I paid a portion of it and plan on making more once I am able to, however my question is is that since I paid a portion of it directly to the utility company, will the balance that I owe to collections regarding that same bill reflect that? apologies if this wasn't written the best. I appreciate any and all responses.

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Hi guys, I hope this is okay to post here. I’m a dental hygiene student at Oxford College and I’m still looking for a few clients to finish my clinic requirements.

If you haven’t had a cleaning in years or have heavy tartar/build-up, staining or bleeding gums, please don’t feel embarrassed — those are actually the cases I’m looking for and there’s genuinely no judgment.

The care is completely free, and I also give cash compensation as a thank-you for your time because the appointments are longer than a normal dental visit.

The appointments include things like:

- Full dental and gum assessment

- Oral cancer screening

- Professional scaling/deep cleaning and polishing

- X-rays if needed

- Fluoride treatment if needed

- Oral hygiene and diet advice

Everything is done at the teaching clinic at Oxford College inside Scarborough Town Centre and supervised by dentists and registered dental hygienists.

The main thing I need is someone who can actually commit. Appointments are around 3 hours each and usually require a few visits, depending on how much cleaning is needed.

📍 Scarborough Town Centre, Scarborough, Ontario

🚗 Free parking

🚇 TTC accessible

If you’re interested, just DM me and I’ll explain everything. Even if you’re not sure whether you’re the type of client I need, feel free to ask.

You’d genuinely be helping me get closer to finishing my requirements and graduating, and I really appreciate anyone willing to help. 🥹

Hey everyone! Long time lurker here, got tons of great advice over the years. I have a question that asking lots of family and friends, it's pretty divided down the middle what people think I should do, and it's just making me feel lost and hopeless.

I had an emergency surgery at the beginning of the year when I was already sapped on savings from a housing crisis I went through that I had no control over. Because I couldn't work and had no safety net except ~$800/mo from Ontario Works, the rest was going on my line of credit while I recovered.

Problem is, the doctors told me it would be a few weeks, and it ended up being months. I'm now looking at 10k in debt, when my card caps at 14k and it's scaring the crap out of me. Half the people I talked to said I should file for bankruptcy, half the people said it was too little to "throw away my life over" and that I should just "figure out a way to get through this"—both sound equally dismissive in different ways, and I'm honestly struggling on where to look or who to believe anymore. I don't even know if they're valid remarks, which is why I want to ask here for people who've actually been through it.

--

For more context, I'm chronically ill and applied for ODSP in December before I even got my surgery. My whole life I've never been able to work as much as other people. It's not going well, despite me giving them tons of supporting papers/evidence/etc. I do have a lawyer I'm meeting with next week to try and move it along, but so much is up in the air I don't want to rely on that "working" and ruin my future if it doesn't. If it does, yay problem solved! If not, this is where I'm worried. Eggs in one basket and all that.

I'm also a remote freelance literary editor because it's the only thing that supports where my health is at. I love my job, but because I'm still fairly new to it, I don't get contracts every month and right now I just cover my cost of living. Part of where my fear is coming from right now, is I have no idea how to pay back this debt when the interest alone is more than I can throw at it currently.

To try and solve the above though, in the autumn I am going to be doing some classes to get into a niche field of my work that's in desperate need of people, which is exciting for future stability, but it doesn't help me in the moment when I'm looking at "Oh god, how will I cover rent in a few months if nothing changes?"

My cost of living is about $1600 currently because of said debt repayment, but when I'm out of debt it's a bit lower than that. That includes rent, hydro, phone, internet, groceries, and a YT subscription just so I can have some music for chores/errands. I'm incredibly frugal and I don't want to list a ton of things to make this post longer than it is, so I can add stuff in some comments if people need, but I genuinely don't think I can get it any lower than that.

--

But yeah, basically every "fix" right now that might help me is too far in the future that it doesn't really do anything for me, and I don't want to just sit here and pray they work out obviously. Right now I'm going to run out of money/cap my line of credit before any of these pull through and it's scaring the daylights out of me.

I'm looking for any advice, but please be kind. This is the healthiest/most stable I've been my whole life coming from some hella bad upbringing/situations—so even though I'm 32 I'm only now truly starting my life in earnest. There's a lot of gaps in my knowledge that I'll happily work on filling, just please don't be rude about me "not knowing something" if it comes up like I've seen in some other places. I can't help what I don't know, but I'm always willing to learn things and grow. I really want to build a stable life for myself, I just can't figure out this current hurdle.

In the end, 10k feels silly to do something so "drastic" over from horror stories I've seen, but I also have no idea how I'm supposed to conquer this debt so that I can get back to building up any kind of savings right now. I'm just feeling so scrambled and hopeless which is also starting to mess with my mental health a lot.

Again, thank you for any advice, resources, tips, etc. I'm just at such a loss and my anxiety can only stand so much. I really can't stomach the idea of being homeless again; I did that for far too many years, and I just want to get past this so I can keep moving my life forward to where I know it can be.

Thanks again y'all, I hope you're all having a lovely day and your pillow is always cool.